I keep wondering why so many post concern transmission problems . Every time I work on my 240 or sd I feel like i'm working on a true masterpeice of engineering .more like a work of art than an auto. But that tranny on the sd scares me all the horror stories. Seems like a car as fine as an M B would have a break proof gear box , I put a warmed up 454 in a 2wd Blazer with a 400 turbo tranny and can pull stumps run it up steep mts. with a heavy trailer and nary a whimper
and should it do a meltdown it can be rebuilt with out having to shell out the price of a Purdy. Didn't Rolls use G M trannys for a while?
William Rogers

I don't want to sound stuck up but let me know how your turbo 400 is doing after 150 to 200 thousand miles. Where some MB autos show signs of wear. If you can rebuild a hydramatic you can do a MB tranny too. If you want it to last as long as a new one you have to do the whole job not just stuff clutch packs and seals in it. Some diesels suffer from premature wear because of unrepaired vacuum leaks or misadjustment. If your interested in properly adjusting one I'll dig up a link to a great article on the right way to do it. They are excellent transmissions and with proper care and feeding will outlive most domestic autoboxes two to one.

Bob D.

Did Rolls really used a G M tranny?

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... Kerry

126 tailed by a 203, 129 leading the pack.

I joined the RROC (Rolls Royce Owners Club) not too long ago, and so far I have never heard of a GM tranny in a Rolls. I have heard of GM conversions on the engines though.

A rebuilt Rolls engine using genuine parts and good mechanic can be $20,000 give or take a few grand. So for the people who want to drive a nice car and dont want to cough up the dough, they do a GM conversion for a cheaper price and cheaper maintence in the future. Although most people frown on this because a Rolls body with a GM engine just isnt original and hmm, I dont know how to describe it.

Yes Rolls did use a GM tranny for a long time. In fact many companies used GM transmissions over the years. Detroit used to be world leaders in the auto trans department when the Asian or Japanese auto industry was in it's infancy, and the Euro makers catered more to their home markets which had next to none demand for automatics. Eventually as the Japanese and Euro manufactures export more cars they saw the demand for autos in America mainly, and worked hard to catch up. So today GM auto's are considered very smooth but not better then MB or Toyota units.